Story:Enter the GHD
Enter the GHD is a story documenting the introduction of the Great Horned Dragon Empire to the Milky Way galaxy. Part 1: The Breakaway Fleet ...somewhere in Eteno territory... "Core Matter Reactors 1-3 damaged, Core Matter Reactors 7-16 damaged, Core Matter Reactor 22 destroyed, Core Matter Reactors 29-31 destroyed," the computer sounded off as Pyro shifted back into consciousness, blinking a few times before he slowly got up off the floor. Lights flickered and flashed, some sparked and cracked as the red reptilian crewmembers frantically ran around the flagship Black Emerald. He looked up and saw all of the fighters in the large cargo dock were out of their place, tossed around by the violent shaking the ship experienced before Pyro was knocked out cold. Suddenly, with a loud whirring sound, the lights and computers in the ship simultaneously powered on. There was a short cheering heard throughout the ship at the fact and then people immediately returned to their work. "Pyro..." a feminine voice called through a radio on Pyro's uniform, "I know you're not dead yet... I swear if you're dead, you're getting demoted." Pyro hit a button on the radio, and replied, "Admiral, ma'am, still here. Orders?" "Bridge, now," the Admiral said back. After hearing that, Pyro ran through the corridors to a transport deck and headed up to the bridge. When he got there, he stood to the side while Admiral Cinder talked to some others. After another couple minutes, more officers showed up, and awaited orders of some kind. "Alright," the Admiral said aloud, "Professor Dimitri, explain to all of them what you just told me." "Right," the large, gorilla-like science officer said as he brought a few different images onto a large screen at the front of the room. "When we passed through the gateway, at first, I thought we were sent only a few parsecs beyond the borders of the empire, but that does not seem to be the case. Not a single star system matches our database within several hundred thousand lightyears. Ladies and gentlemen, we are no longer within the known regions of space. We are in another galaxy." Admiral Cinder followed up, "None of us know exactly where we are in the universe, but all we can say is that we cannot go back...at least for a while. It's only a matter of time before Tyrannis follows us here, but chances are, there's some other space farring race nearby. We don't know if they are friendly or hostile, but the odds are that someone is going to come and say hi to us, and soon. I want you all to make sure that this ship, which I have learned is the only still operational one, is ready for battle should it be necessary. At the same time, I want the medical staff ready to attend to every crewmember in this fleet, the word is, that there's a lot of dead soldiers in our other ships. I also want you, Pyro, to take as many fighters as are ready and fly down into the nearest dust cloud; hide there and if we get attacked prepare to flank any opponents that come." "Understood," Pyro said as he head off, radioing all of his pilots to prepare for battle. Part 2: The Ones that Said Hi In geosynchronous above IAF Gloster on the Eteno colony Herit... "Commander Rzniye, sir?" said an Eteno. "What is it Constable? I haven't had my coffee yet today, so make it quick." "Sensors have picked up a large fleet of unidentified ships. However, most of them seem damaged. Unfortunately, there is at least one in good condition, and judging by its size, would require considerable backup to pacify if these guys prove hostile. Orders?" "Alert the Home Guard and any Imperial Police Force gunboats within three systems. In the meantime, set a course to the fleet." "Aye, sir!" The Constable ran off towards the bridge like his heels were on fire, as Rzniye continued his walk to the mess. The ship rumbled as the engines came to life with a blast of orangish-blue flame from the cylindrical engines. HG-47925 drew ever closer to the unidentified fleet as it slingshotted around Herit. In the meantime, the IBA Commander got his coffee. In a matter of fifteen minutes, the gunboat came close enough to the unidentified ships for both visual and radio contact. Rzniye, who was know on the bridge, ordered his radio officer to hail the fleet. "This is the Imperial Border Authority. Identify yourself immediately." Some shuffling and muffled voices were heard before an official-looking alien was seen. These were tall red reptilian creatures with draconic wings and faces. Appearance-wise, they had much in common with a Karnasaur, though the colors and build were a stark contrast. "This is Admiral Cinder of the Imperial Galactic Alliance. We are Great Horned Dragons, or GHDs for short. We can't really explain exactly how we got here, but we're not hostile." Before Rzniye could reply, seventeen IPF gunboats arrived alongside two cruisers, a destroyer, a battleship, and a carrier from the Home Guard dock at Drenedev Shipyards. "Hnh. I see that your ships need repair before we bring you in to space dock, so we'll see if we can get some repair barges here. Have you let go of any cargo, or launched any craft since your arrival?" "We have not, sir," Cinder replied. "But regardless of where you've come from, you have illegally entered Eteno space.: "We've illegally entered your space?" Admiral Cinder said, trying to hold back laughter, "Anyways, I apologize for the invasion, but unfortunately, as our fleet is badly damaged, and we are cut off from the rest of our empire, I officially declare that we are an independant nation in this galaxy. It is not our intention to pose any threat to you, or your empire, but any arrest or interrogation of the crews of any of these ships will be considered an act of war; I'm sure you can understand that I have to ensure the safety of my fleet, and of my people. We have sent a fleet of fighters to planet's surface for the sole purpose of remaining hidden in the event that an enemy fleet of great firepower decides to attack. Seeing as that is not the case, I don't believe such actions will be necessary. We greatly appreciate any help you can offer at this point in time." After giving her speech, she turned to an officer on the bridge and said, "Tell Officer Charr to bring his fleet back up." After a few moments, nearly 270 U-150 Dominators, and 22 Locust transport/gunships flew into space from the planet below and headed for the Black Emerald to dock. "Well, as long as your craft hasn't caused any damage to our resort colonies, I see no problem with anything here. I just spoke with Fleet Commander Raulf of the Imperial Home Guard, and he says that about a dozen repair barges on the planet below us are preparing to launch, so we will be able to repair most of the damage your ships seem to have sustained. However, you'll need to come to Drenedev Shipayrds with us for full repairs. It's nearby, and I can arrange a meeting with High General Lambert Schulz and you, if you'd like." "There's nothing wrong with these conditions. We'll wait for those barges in the meantime. Admiral Cinder, out." The feed went blank on the IBA ship, and Commander Rzniye walked towards the radio operators. "Have you any news from the surface?" "Well, we received a message fifteen minutes ago from IAF Gloster saying that they detected a huge strike force and were scrambling. Unfortunately, we can't inform them of what's going on because a damn electromagnetic storm is brewing up high in the atmosphere above Gloster. Those panicked airmen are probably scurrying around like rats on their airfield trying to get some Defenders up." The radio officer replied. "Keep trying to hail them." "Yes sir." ---- Imperial Palace, Malisk II... Eteno Supreme Commander Ivanov Monore surveyed the many holographic screen arrayed around him, giving him up-to-the-second information about the empire. The trade value of the Grum, the stock market, troop deployments, food output, military news, and all sorts of other things. On one of the screens, an alert popped up from the IBA. Monore figured it was just another illegal immigration report, and opened it up. It read: TO SUPREME COMMANDER MONORE FLEET OF DAMAGED SHIPS SUDDENLY APPEARED ABOVE HERIT IBA, IPF, AND HOME GUARD RESPONDED NOT HOSTILE, REQUESTED REPAIR DECLARED INDEPENDENCE ALERT LEVEL RED AT IAF GLOSTER EM STORM BLOCKING COMMUNICATION WITH GLOSTER Ivanov immediately closed the message and opened up an A/V feed with his secretary. "Svenja, I need to go to Herit. Alert whoever is in command of the 1st Fleet right now, and load up the 13th Ceremonials. I've received some interesting news..." ---- Emperor Clar was having a bit of a wild day. Senate intel said that Hunre extremists were targeting the Shrine of Yetu, and he recently heard from Colonel Etah that a mad Karnasaur was on the loose with unknown motives. He was just going over Etah's most recent report when he recieved an urgent email from Eteno forces. It read: "Karnasaur Emperor Clar Kahn, We have a matter which will require the assistance of you and your finest covert operation soldiers, along with the upmost discrection. As of 2 hours ago, Eteno forces contacted an unknown fleet of derelicts orbiting an Eteno colony. They claimed independence and stated that they came in peace. They say that they were doing battle with an enemy fleet when they were sucked into a black hole or something and brought here... Your Majesty, they claim that they are from an entirely different galaxy. We humbly request that you send your legendary HIRIOTS to assist in this situation; they require repairs and we are currently lending them a fleet of repair barges. We need the HIRIOTS to help in escorting them to a new world where they can touch down without risk of discovery. This secrecy will only have to last until the Senate can confirm that they are willing to reveal these... as they call themselves, 'Great Horned Dragons'. In additon, the Senate has already promised the GSSOC team's involvement in the escorting, assessment, and relocation on the Horned Dragons. Not what they're used to, but the Senate gave them the choice as to who gets in on the team when a new race joins. Whoever they choose, he or she will be given all the rights and privileges belonging to a GSSOC member. But you probably already can guess all this. We eagerly await your answer, Eteno-Karnasaur Ambassador Nhevit Noreivt" Clar was caught completely off-guard, but, as with all Karnasaurs, was equally fascinated. '' A new race from a different galaxy? Could this mean that our experiments aren't a waste of Nras... what if it was an articifical black hole? If so...'' Without thinking another word, Clar sent a message to the HIRIOT HQ ordering the best Elites to be sent over to help the Eteno. Part 3: Settling In "Pyro," Admiral Cinder said through a headset as she left the bridge, "Come back to the ship, and meet me in my quarters, we need to have a private discussion about what needs to be done, along with some other hand-picked individuals." "Copy that," Charr said back while he navigated his U-150 towards the flagship and docked. As he walked into Cinder's quarters, the doors shut behind him, and another officer who he was unfamiliar with locked them. "So what's the emergency?" Charr asked as he sat down at a large dining table with the others. "Ever since we've arrived here, we haven't run into any ships nearly as powerful as ours; but they definitely have some kind of large alliance, spanning across a good portion of the galaxy. Speck, our chief intelligence officer, has identified several planets and systems that are in constant contact with one another. Through a series of silent hacks, we've determined a few native empires and their locations across different parts of the galaxy. They aren't as large as the Federation in our galaxy is, no where near that, but they are big. What I'm saying is that until recently, we were one of two galactic superpowers, and now that probably is not the case. Based on how we used to do things, I assume that our friends are going to want to relocate us; that will not happen. We are not rushing into any alliances, not yet; and until we can secure a planet to call our home in this galaxy, we aren't joining anyone's side. If brought you all here for some special assignments. Charr, I want you to be my eyes and ears within their ranks, an ambassador so to speak, not so much a spy. I don't want them to do so much as sneeze on my ships without me knowing. Meanwhile, I'm going to have the rest of you on stand-by. You all need to know something about Tyrannis as well. Speck, show them." The officer that Pyro didn't recognize earlier, hit a few buttons on a wall console, and a video popped up of a huge ship being constructed around a large ring of shipyards around a moon. "Is that what I think it is?" Pyro asked. "Yes," Cinder replied, "Our intelligence recently confirmed that what they were working on is a revamped Excalibur class mega-dreadnaught. If they're constructing one, chances are, that they're constructing more. I think that Tyrannis might plan to send one here to finish us off. So be on your guard, there's no telling how unstoppable one of those ships could be with modern weapons onboard. It would take a fleet of Jestico class warships to take one on, a fleet we definitely do not have." "Shouldn't we tell our new friends?" Charr asked. "No," Cinder answered, "At least not now. It will be some time before Tyrannis finds out where we are. Once we can manage to head off a new empire in this galaxy, we'll start constructing a fleet powerful enough to take on any fleet Tyrannis constructs." "If I may ask," Charr continued, "Where are you planning to go?" "Shortly after arriving here, we detected a suitable colony. A gigantic planet bigger than its star. I doubt anyone in the galaxy has the tech to colonize such a place. If we can get there first, it will be a strong start, with tons of resources. That's all. You're dismissed." After she finished, the rest of the officers left the room. Before Charr could leave, Cinder spoke up again, "Pyro, we may not see each other again for a while, not in person, not for a long time. Please be careful." "You too," Pyro responded, "Good luck." After that, Pyro left the room and headed for the bridge for the official assignement, where Cinder arrived shortly after. "Hail our rescuers," Cinder said to one of the officers on the bridge; once a response came, she spoke quickly, "Sir, I've assigned one of my officers, Brigadier Assault Commando Char as an ambassador, where should I send him?" "He should go down to Herit, and rest of your fleet should come to Drenedev once the quick repairs are completed by the barges. General Schulz is on Herit, as I stated before, supervising the construction of a modified transport for one of his divisions. He's the highest-ranking Eteno in three systems, because most of the officers are still out fighting one of our enemies after a shock advance last month." Replied Fleet Commander Zakary Raulf, whom the GHD Admiral Cinder had hailed. "I'll send him out immediately; once my ships are able to move, we'll follow your barges to the shipyards you spoke of for full repair, after that, we'll be on our way. End transmission." "Thanks. Imperial Navy out." After the feed ended, Pyro headed towards the main hangers of the ship and left in his presonal U-150 "Dominator" fighter and flew down to Herit, and was guided to a civilian spaceport as Gloster was taken off alert, but still in chaos. The repair ships from the planet finished their work on the GHD fleet, which then apprehensively took off with the vanguard of alien ships. However, for now, the focus will be on Brigadier Assault Commando Pyro Charr. When his fighter landed on an unoccupied landing pad like a harrier in the civilian spaceport with three Eteno Imperial Navy Defender fighters circling overhead, he opened the cockpit of his ship and locked it up electronically. Meeting Char were about a dozen official-looking Eteno in black/yellow uniforms. One of them walked up to Charr, a translator in his ear. "Constable Roy Erndroif, Teremov Police Division." "Nice to meet you too; Commander Charr, ambassador of the Black Emerald." "My officers and I will be escorting you to High General Lambert Schulz's headquarters in town. See, most civilians in the empire tend to get a tad excited by new, intelligent peoples." "Ok... how will we be getting to this Lambert Schulz?" "Motorcade. You'll be riding in a hovervan while my boys drive alongside, behind, and infront in their PCs." The Constable continued speaking as he, the officers, and the dragon walked off the landing zone, through the spaceport, and out to the garage. "As you have most likely already discovered, we are quite a bit shorter than most races, and as such our vehicles don't have as much leg or ceiling room as you may find comfortable. So please, try to relax despite that." The Constable slid open the door of the pitch-black van. Part 4: The Third Party Meanwhile in an isolated cave deep below the surface of Herit... Deep down, at least a mile below Herit's surface was a cave completely sealed off from the surface lit only by torches. It consisted of two chambers; one with several cots and another with an unusual machine. Two black cloaked figured were in the room with the machine. "Did you manage to open the portal?" a black cloaked figured said to another. "Unfortunately, not Monstrum. It seems that just as when I attempted to split open space in this region, another force appeared from nowhere, completely disrupting the natural magnetic alignment in this area. We need to find another nearby region with the correct galactic alignment." "What was the force?" "According to my scans, it seems that a few damaged ship made it through but the portal closed behind them." "These ships. Whoever is aboard might interfere with our plans. The boss must be made aware of this. You continue on the portal, but keep in mind we will have to leave soon. I feel the presense of Eteno in orbit. They might detect us down here." "Right." Pardus went about examining the machine. He then made some extremely complex calculations on a datapad. He entered some equations, double checking his work. "Hmmmm...wait a second. I think I may have found the solution. It seems the galactic magnetic alignment is incorrect in this area. But how? I thought my calculations were spot on, precise!" He pondered a little more. "Wait, it appears the area was actually the former location of a Stone Ring destroyed long ago. When we turned on the portal, it simply reactivated the region allowing for those ships to pass through - though it's one-way. We don't expect them to return anytime soon." Pardus searched with his mind for others of his kind, relaying his new info via a Telephathic Amplifier to another scout named Letifico. Letifico responded rather quickly as he was already nearby a favorable area. "I seem to have discovered a new planet. It's an anomaly of epic proportions and the surrounding area is the best alignment I've found," Letifico said. "No one seems to have colonized it, as its gravity is apparently so powerful that its star orbits it. I mean, I would not want to even get within its atmosphere, or my ship will be squashed like a Sarkakion larva." "Impossible! How could a planet like that even exist?" Pardus responded with surprise. "Well, I'm staring right at it. It's best that you get your tail over here so that we can pinpoint the location on where exactly to construct the portal. I sense that someone is planning to colonize this area soon so we do not have much time." "Right away. Send me the coordinates, then we'll be right over there." "It's quite a ways away from where you are. It should take at least several hours to get here from where you are if you were to go at maximum speed." "Acknowledged. We've finally found a new base for the boss!" Immediately, Pardus and Monstrum packed their belonging and materialized themselves aboard a cloaked ship on a nearby moon leaving unnoticed. They took the portal machine with them, their cots, and put out the torches leaving no trace. The ship silently took off to the unusual planet that Letifico discovered. Soon enough it arrived. Immediately upon Pardus's and Monstrum's gaze was an enormous planet almost 8 million kilometers in diameter. "Here we are, Pardus. Now, open the portal," commanded Monstrum. "Right away, Master," Pardus said. He turned on the machine launching eight drones which arranged themselves in a circle about twenty miles from the edge of the planet's atmosphere. Then, the drones began to distort space and eventually rip it open creating a wormhole. Letifico sent a message via Telepathic Amplifier. "The Home Dimension...A new place to hide and strike." Pardus and Monstrum entered the portal. Everything around them turned white. Then, Pardus pulled a lever which reverse accelerated the warp drive which further warped the white void into something else. When space settled down, beyond them, they arrived on a floating island that was a vast desert of ash with a floating ocean above them. In the distance were volcanoes that erupted snow. This was not normal space. This was the Home Dimension. Part 5: Introductions A tall Karnasaur wearing a dress uniform and shades stood in front of a luxury shuttle. The Emperor himself had the Karnasaur comeall the way out here to escort a Brigadier Commando from some extra-galactic race to the Bunker and the offer a special deal to his leader. Just as he was recalling the deal's specifics, an Eteno limo pulled up. Out came a dragonoid, obviously cramped by the tight space. He walked up to the Karnasaur. "I assume you're my escort?" Inquired the dragonoid. "Colonel Etah Owar, Karnasaur Meritocratic Federation. Member of the Galactic Senate Special Operations Corp, or GSSOC. Welcome to the team." Etah said as he escorted the dragon onto the shuttle. "Brigadier Commando Pyro Charr, Galactic Federation. Great Horned Dragon. Listen, I didn't join any team or-" "Do you want to bang your head against the wall with a bunch of politicians?" "Well, no, but-" "Then, again, welcome to the team." "All right, when do I meet the rest of the team?" "They're at our homebase, the Bunker, awaiting your arrival. We'll arrive in a few minutes. Karnasaur technology is the finest in the galaxy. But while I have you alone, I was wondering if I could strike a deal with your superior." "That would be Admiral Cinder. I'll hail her." Pyro retrieved a holo-comm from his pocket and dialed a number. Another Dragon showed up. "Pyro. Something wrong?" She said. "No ma'am. I'm here with my new team mate, Colonel Etah of the Karnasaur Meritocratic Federation. He says his superiors want to make a deal with you." She turned to face Etah. "Hm. And what would that be, Colonel?" "An alliance, of sorts. It's called a Declaration of Friendship. It's usually a public decree that two empires are close friends, and action with one will have similar ramifications with the other. It usually implies military, economic, and technological agreements being made between the empires. The Karnasaurs would be honored if you would sign a Declaration with us. We can easily make it worth your while in military or economic, even some technological aid." "Colonel, tell your superiors that while their offer is tempting, I'm not going to make friends with any one yet without clear and extreme reason to do so. We just arrived in this galaxy." "Of course. I'll forward a full history lesson to you later, but what you need to know is that the Karnasaurs share the title of Galactic Superpower with the Eteno Triumvirate, Delson Hegemony, and Dhragolon Federal Monarchy. However, we are capable of holding our own against all three of them in a war. We are the most technologically advanced species in this galaxy. We are powerful friends, and an enemy you don't want to make." "Is that a threat?" "No, no, no, perish the thought. I'm just making a dramatic point. Karnasaurs are naturally charismatic, and we have a taste for theatrics, but it never gets in the way of effiency. So, what do you say?" The Admiral was silent for a few moments, thinking. Etah took the is time to study her. He thought she looked beautiful, he gave her that... with stunning eyes... and she was a good leader by her tendency for forethought and caution... and she was assertive, not willing to take a threat... Before he could think anymore of it, she spoke again. "Pyro, what do you think?" "Me, ma'am? I think we should go for it." "Hmm... I'm still not sure..." Etah decided to make one final point. He was authorized to reveal this one piece of top-secret intel for the purpose of aquiring a Declaration with the GHDs. "Let me tell you a little secret, shall I? The Karnasaur Emperor has been spending several millions credits on a top secret science project intended to allow Karnasaurs to secure the role of Galactic Superpower in more than this galaxy. He's funding a project that, if successful, will allow a ship to cross the Void. That's right, Admiral: Intergalactic travel. A declaration of friendship will allow you to keep up-to-date on out progress, and if it's successful..." He didn't have to say anything else. "Deal. Tell your Emperor that The Galactic Federation would like to officially sign a declaration of friendship with the Karnasaurs." "Excellent. I'll do that. So you know, this declaration will be more on the private side. The Karnasaurs aren't willing to tell the Galaxy that they're affiliated with a faction that doesn't exist yet. I look forward to seeing you next, Admiral. Hopefully in person." At this point the ship was touching down on one of the Bunker's landing pads. Pyro disconnected and stood up. "Commander, I would appreciate it if you didn't tell the other team members about our little deal. Understood?" "I suppose, Colonel" "Please, call me Etah." Pyro flipped open his message receiver and began reading Cinder's first message in his thoughts, "We are heading to a suitable colony; when our "friend" is ready, he can meet us there, or not at all. Remember who you're working for, if you become aware of any secret information that threatens our safety, make sure I'm the first to know." To which Pyro replied, "Copy that, I don't foresee a problem other than recklessness with these bragging clowns; it's never the boasting ones that become dangerous anyhow. I'll see what I can find out about this... inter-dimensional stuff, and see if there's any link to us coming here, to make sure they don't open up ANOTHER portal and let our old friend Tyranis walk right on through, probably with a fleet of Excaliburs. Morons..." After a few moments, Pyro got a reply, "I don't care what you think of them or their people; but please try not to offend them and that you're speaking on behalf of the empire now. I do agree, opening up random inter-spatial portals is beyond risky, but reserve your judgement, for all our sake. Heading out." Pyro replied back once more, "Yes ma'am." After that conversation ended, the Karnasuar, Etah, inquired to the nature of his conversation. Pyro glared at him and said, "This is private information between me and my commanding officer. I'd appreciate it if you kept your eyes clear of what I'm writing to her. Anyways, where are we going? I'd like to know what exactly I'll be doing with this... team..." "A rather secret installation. And no, the location of this place cannot be passed on to anybody." "And how will we get there?" "A ship. We'll get there on the senate's dime. There's a landing pad out back, come with me." "Senate?" "I'll explain later." ---- After Cinder's fleet was fixed up, they prepared to leave the shipyards. Admiral Cinder finished up a conversation and then immediately sent Pyro a written message. After a short back and forth conversation, she put down her transmitter and began to give orders to the fleet. "Alright team," she said, "We're headed towards the new planet. Remember, it may or may not be colonized already. Be ready for anything, and the second we get there, put full power to shields." All across the bridge, captains and higher ranking officers on video screens from other ships in turn responded in the affirmative, and then cut transmissions. The screen switched over to a view of a 360 degree sphere around the ship. One by one, in order of the smallest to largest, the fleet began to lurch forwards and vanish in what appeared to be electrical distortions, but were in fact the time space continuum fluctuating as the ships jumped through hyperspace. Finally, the largest ship, The Black Emerald, followed suite, jumping forwards and then seemingly vanishing in a flash. All of the ships arrived in the orbit of the massive planet. "Arckas...An appropriate name for the planet I believe," Cinder said aloud, "What's it looking like? Has it been colonized?" "Our scans are showing no signs of colonization, admiral," a random officer said, "But... there seems to be some kind of quantum distortion on the other side of the planet. Some kind of...portal." "A portal? A portal to where?" "The distortion is strange, unlike anything I've seen. It doesn't seem to be simply a hole in the space-time fabric. For the lack of better words, it's as if a warp engine was turned...halfway." "What is that supposed to mean?" Cinder questioned. "Whatever this portal is, Tyrannis can easily end up here should he match the same frequency as this distortion no matter where he is the universe. In other words, if Tyrannis were to appear, it would be here." "Then we best start preparing the welcome mat for him," Cinder said. "Ladies and gentlemen, I want you all to know that I don't give a damn about what our would be allies have said about their attempts at inter-spatial travel; they brag to be the most advanced race in the galaxy, but perhaps it is too much for their own good. Who knows what kind of perils they're exposing them and the rest of us to. I don't care if this is them doing it, or some other race; I want to do whatever it takes to get that portal closed, because as of now, this planet is our home. We will not allow anyone's little science experiments to threaten us in any way. We don't have much of a population to work with, so for now, we'll just have to make due, I want every person who is able to begin working on the colonization of this planet, and more importantly, the construction of the Drive Yards. As of now, we have a claimed planet, OUR planet, and if anyone contests that, it's an act of war. From now on, Arckas is our home!" Part 6: The Bunker Etah turned and walked through a small security checkpoint with Charr to a waiting ship of obvious Dhragolon design, but adorned with Galactic Senate markings. The two casually walked aboard, and informed the Eteno pilot of their destination. With haste, the shuttle lifted off of the Decacrete landing pad. Rising up through the atmosphere, Etah and Pyro continued to discuss all sorts of things. Etah explained the political landscape of the galaxy, and the major powers. Dhragolon, Karnasaur, Eteno, Delson, Hunre, and Heglarean. The flight was a mere two hours, but it gave the elite Karnasaur more than enough time to discuss a wide variety of subjects with the Great Horned Dragon. When the shuttle reached the seat of the Galactic Senate several parsecs away from Herit, it set down roughly in front of a collection of ugly warehouses and storage rooms. Pyro and Etah stepped off, and Etah lead Pyro to a small maintinence shed. "You took me on a two-hour shuttle flight to a mere shed?!" "Just watch." They walked inside, and the tall Karnasaur walked up to a broom. He said his name and pushed a button that revealed itself. "Schoshlung!!" A short, yellow creature had grabbed a handgun from his belt in shock as the staircase covering above him slid away. When he saw who it was, though, he immediately calmed down and put his gun back in its' holster. "Pardon my Luuschtuntski, Etah, you surprised me." "No harm done, pal. What are you doing?" "I was just gonna get a briefing from Senator Gunther, and then make a few modifications to my language chip..." 'Langauge chi-" Pyro tried to ask before Etah replied to Tholker. "Hm. Well, have fun, I guess. I have some business to attend to in The Bunker." "I see. See you around, kolun schoif dreif dunslo." "Eh?" "Sorry, our way of basically saying friend of our people, like that. I sorta blurted that out." "Ok. Well, bye." "Bye." Ahrganot was inside the bunker reading a news article with the headline "Delson Hegemony joins the Galactic Senate." He was reminded of a previous mission he had before he joined GSSOC - one where he assisted a Delson named Sol I Dor to rescue the human Galiana. It wouldn't be long until the Delsons would find a suitable warrior to join. As Pyro, walked in, Ahrganot looked towards him and said, "So you must be the new guy. Pyro, was it? I wonder what you are all about. You remind me a lot of something I've seen before." Pyro, puzzled, replied, "What are you talking about?" "Nothing, nevermind. Just speaking out loud," Ahrganot went back to reading, causing a brief awkward moment of silence. "Not the blabbermouth I take it?" "Hmm?" Ahrganot replied. "Oh, I'm sorry. I usually like keeping to myself so excuse my strangeness." "By the way, Ahrganot, how well do you know Etah?" "We've been on a few missions together. He is quite powerful - a supersoldier with all those cybernetic implants. I don't have any of that stuff though. I'm just Ahrganot Skizgo. All I've got is just raw skill. Nothing extra." "Humble one, eh? Huge contrast from the Karnasaurs. What is your kind all about?" Pyro replied. "The Dhragolon people? Hmmm...how do I describe them? Well, we're different from the Karnasaurs for one thing. They call themselves advanced and they got all this technology. You know, travelling faster than the speed of light or even using almost only anti-matter for weaponary. But for Dhragolon, wits and pure skill is all what we need. Sure, its necessary to get about space, but what good is it if you use fancy technology for everything? We tend to...stick to our roots." "So, you're the least advanced of this Galactic Senate?" Pyro said. "Well, yes," Ahrganot said. Envy passed through Ahrganot, but he quickly hid it. "Pyro, just to keep it between you and me, we Dhragolon are actually quite violent. In the past 7000 years, we didn't conquer our enemies. Instead, we...well, didn't take prisoners. I'm sure none of the Galactic Senate likes our past actions, but hey. Making friends for once can't hurt. It's nice to have a break from all that bloodshed." "Hmph. Dhragolon. Not really the type of race I expected to join this Galactic Empire of yours." "Actually, we Dhragolon don't consider ourselves to be a part of them. There's an old proverb spoken by the first Rustiagon king. 'The Dhragolon aren't meant to be ruled by mortal men. Only a divine being.' So yes, the Dhragolon aren't officially part of this so-called 'galactic empire'. We've just promised not to kill or steal from each other. Get what I'm saying?" Pyro replied, "I think we might get along just fine then, Ahrganot. I'm starting to like you already." "A compliment? That's generous of you. Hardly get any nowadays. But have you spoken to Tholker, yet? He's a good guy," Ahrganot said. ---- Etah looked at Pyro for just an instant. His cybernetic implants immediately kicked in. Time seemed frozen, and he was now assessing the organism in front of him. His implants were recently upgraded; He could tell Pyro's thoughts based on his brain waves and their behavior. He sifted through the data the cybernetics collected until he found what he was looking for. Emotions. he looked through the data pertaining to stored information in his brain. He found an image of himself in shades and dress uniform, the image Pyro associated with him. He was somewhat insulted at the emotions Pyro associated with him, as well. He thought Etah was inept, proud, moronic, bragging. Proud maybe, but that was the nature of his species. He exited out of the interface and re-entered real time. All of that had happened in just a few milli-seconds. He began walking again, walking towards the Bunker's Command Center. The rest followed him in. "This is where we recieve our missions, usually. We already have one coming up. In fact, I should be getting dressed in my Ceremonial Robes if we're to arrive on time. Tholker, Ahrganot, show Pyro to his quarters. I'll have a disguise sent to his rom, along with the briefing sent to his mail account." "Account?" "Yes, we already prepared one for you. Your first month in this galaxy and you get to see the crown jewel of my people, one of the most beautiful cities in the galaxy, on one of the most beautiful planets. Of course, I'm not trying to brag or anything; Every Karnasaur thinks as much, and the Senatorial Commitee of Aestetics agree." "Commitee of Aestectics? Really?" "Well, it was disbanded about 4,500 years ago." "I guess your the group's historian." "Not quite. I was there." "What? What's your species' average lifespan?" "About a thousand standard years. I've been cursed with immortality. The ELICAN Program commssioned during the First Galactic War had 500 volunteers to undergo severe physical therapy, genetic rewrites, and cybernetic implantation. I am the last ELICAN of the ten who made it out alive." "I doubt your actually truly immortal-" Etah, who had heard this so many times before, pulled out his pistol and shot himself in the head. The ionized bullet lodged in his hide. He reached up and pulled it out. Squashed, but perfectly clean. "Of course, I am not immune to rapid gunfire trained on me for a period of time. That's how one of the ten died. Corriosive chemicals still burn through my flesh. Toxins usually only affect me in massive quantities. Still have doubts?" Pyro could think what he would of Etah. It didn't change the facts. "So, whats this mission?" "Read your briefing. I've had your account opened already for you on your persoanl computer in your room. If you'll excuse me, Karnasaur Ceremonial Robes take a while to get on properly." With that, Etah walked away. He took one last glimpse at Pyro to get a reading on him. He saw what he wanted immediatly as one of Pyro's most recent thoughts: Pyro was learning to respect him, though he still viewed him in a negative manner. "That will change with time, I think."''Etah thought. As Pyro listened to Etah continue to drag on the conversation, he listened carefully, but reluctantly. As an officer of the GHD Empire, he did have a duty to stay alert in case people like Etah spilled information critical to the good will of his species. After arriving at the base, he met Ahrganot for the first time, and looked curiously over the image, impressed with the congruent ancestry of their two races. As Etah went on about his supposed immortality, Pyro chuckled a little, and for a short instant thought to himself, ''"It's a good thing I have a nice sharp sword with me then... I doubt anyone can survive very long without a head." "I wonder how powerful these empires' weapons are exactly," he continued to think to himself, not voicing his thoughts much as he took everything in and headed for the computer he was directed to to see what his new job had in store for him, "I'd really hate to have to compare our military prowess in reality, but I do wonder: how strong are there weapons exactly? Their armor? We've had lasers since near the beginning of the galactic era, but compared to what we have now, they might as well have been throwing rocks at enemy ships. I wonder if the fleet we saw was an actual armada, or if it was a simple patrol. Do they have the means of mass production we did, or can we use something like their lack of such as an advantage if we need to? If things go awry, and we're fighting the most powerful forces in this galaxy, can we come out on top... what's worse, if Tyrannis sends excaliburs here... will our current fleet be a match? If not... we're going to need all the help we can get. These empires are all nothing but a sharp, double-edged sword to us. If their too powerful, it could spell our doom; on the same hand, if they're not powerful enough, it might be the end of us all." ---- Unknowing of the conversation taking place in the briefing room, Tholker walked in with a small thread of smoke rising from exposed circuitry in his arm. The cyborg carefully worked on his electronics with a pen-like utensil, until he saw the three others in the room. He smiled lightly and re-attached the 'skin plate' covering his cybernetics, and put his tool in his belt. "I see the new member is here. What's your name?" "Brigadier Assault Commando Pyro Charr." "Hm. Nice to meet ya, I'm Tholker. I operate with this team under the flag of the Eteno Imperial Triumvirate, where are you from?" "Well, we ended up here by accident. I'm of the Great Horned Dragons, and well, yeah, I'm the new member." "I see, welcome to the team!" "Thank you. Well, these races of the Galactic Senate have piqued my curiosity. The Karnasaurs are so proud of their technology and all, while the Dhragolon are the exact opposite. What's yours like?" Tholker shrugged, and replied, "Somewhere in between I guess. I don't like to brag about our empire though. Our actions are our bragging." Ahrganot entered the room, "Since we're all here, let's get to the briefing." "But we already have our assignment. We're going to Karnas." Etah cut in. "Yes, but I heard the Eteno have troubling news. There's a video message that has been recorded for us by some high-ranking E." "Well, let's see it," replied Tholker. Ahrganot nodded and pressed a button on a small control panel on the wall next to him. The video screen in front of them came to life with an Eteno officer standing under some camoflauge netting. "GSSOC team, hello. I'm Field Marshal Karl Lodz. I'm sending this message from the main plaza at Prezhino Brahstav Gruscher University. As you probably know, an important particle accelerator, and a top-secret particle weapon are both here. We've learned from codebreakers at Malisk II that the Kklxin plan to invade with an army of their blasted clones. I'm aware that killing clones is useless unless you destroy the source, but if this attack achieves its' purpose, a decade of progress is lost, and possibly a window into a lightly-explored area of interdimensional science. Instead of opting for a full Battlegroup of troops to help defend this location and give away the fact that we have broken the Kklxin's encryptions, we're calling upon you guys to beat back the Kklxin, and maybe test this fancy new particle weapon. I hope we see you shortly. I have to go, goodbye and good luck." The video ended and Ahrganot turned off the screen. "So... we're gonna have to split up for this. Who wants to go with me to Grjdonsk?" Tholker asked casually, fiddling with Hitstick. Category:Articles by User:SupcommMonroee Category:Articles by User:Krayfish Category:Articles by User:Panthean Category:Articles by User:Nra 'Vadumee